A Beautiful Morning
by YanksLuver
Summary: Sydney and Vaughn enjoy the morning after. (Vaughn POV)


Title: A Beautiful Morning  
  
Author: Steph (ILUVNYYANK@aol.com)  
  
Category: Romance/Drama  
  
Pairing: Sydney/Vaughn  
  
POV: Vaughn  
  
Spoilers: "Salvation," "Phase One", "Double Agent" and the preview ones for next episode, "A Free Agent".  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Archive: Sure, just let me know where.  
  
Disclaimer: Alias and its characters do not belong to me. I do this out of a love for the show and no infringement is intended.  
  
Summary: Sydney and Vaughn enjoy the morning after.  
  
Note: All right, so you saw those previews! I had to write my version of the morning after before I saw JJ's. Hope you enjoy it and please let me know what you thought! :) ~Steph  
  
* * * A Beautiful Morning: Part 1/1 * * *  
  
I roll over and slowly pry my eyes open. My gaze falls upon her peaceful face. I smile, memories of the night before filling my mind.  
  
It was so amazing. More amazing than I could have ever dreamt. Reality far surpassed my numerous fantasies. And that's saying a lot because they were nothing to be ashamed of.  
  
I can hardly believe that Sydney Bristow - this incredible, unattainable woman - is lying beside me.  
  
Unattainable. That's what she was for so long. I'd convinced myself that she wouldn't be mine for a long time. Even when it seemed like she would be, back in France, the moment was fleeting. I was forced to accept the fact that Sydney wouldn't be mine for years...until SD-6 was destroyed.  
  
Then, just like that, it was over. So fast...It was almost too easy, too good to be true.  
  
I looked across the room and there she was. There she was, just like she'd been for the last year and a half, except now everything was different. We didn't have to hide. We didn't have to pretend. She could be mine.  
  
That amazing first kiss eventually led to this. I shake my head in wonder, recalling how we'd ended up here.  
  
She was making me dinner. I was standing in her apartment, in her kitchen, and she was making me dinner. It all seemed so normal. It felt so right. All of those months of yearning to look at her in public, touch her anytime I wanted, had made those moments so much sweeter. I treasured just the simple act of watching her glide around the kitchen, her movements impossibly graceful.  
  
She'd pass by me, her face coming tantalizingly close to my lips, her breathtaking scent teasing my senses.  
  
I couldn't stand it anymore. I couldn't wait any longer. I wanted her. I needed her.  
  
And that's when it began: the single most amazing night of my life.  
  
I won't lie, I've had incredible sex before. I just didn't realize until last night that I'd never made love.  
  
What happened between us last night was beyond sex...It was two souls finally connecting after waiting so long. It was slow and passionate and filled with love.  
  
Now I knew why I'd never understood the term 'making love' before...I had never experienced it. Every noteworthy experience I had ever had left me satisfied sexually, but an emptiness always consumed me. I didn't understand that feeling until last night. I'd never actually had sex with someone I was in love with...truly, deeply in love with.  
  
I'd thought I was in love a time or two, with Alice, for example, but I now realize it wasn't even close.  
  
What Sydney and I shared was deep and raw and honest. We were united more than just physically, but emotionally.  
  
I close my eyes, still consumed by the feel of her impossibly soft skin on mine. I can still taste her on my lips...smell her on my body.  
  
I open my eyes again and look at her. I watch her eyelids flutter gently and listen to the soft breaths escaping her barely parted lips. She looks so peaceful, so innocent. She looks as if nothing bad has ever touched her. If I have any say in it, nothing bad ever will again.  
  
I ache to touch her, my fingers literally twitching with desire. I slowly raise my hand up and move a stray piece of hair out of her face, allowing my fingertips to gently brush against her cheek.  
  
She sighs then, causing me to move my hand away. She shifts her body, but doesn't awaken.  
  
Her lips slowly curl at the ends and it's as if she's smiling. She mutters, "Finally," under her breath, barely audible to me.  
  
I smile. She's talking in her sleep again.  
  
Her form stirs again, but this time her eye gradually slide open.  
  
A sleepy smile crawls across her lips as her gaze falls upon me.  
  
"Hey," she breathes.  
  
"Hey," I return, my smile widening.  
  
Beneath the covers, I feel her hand find mine, our fingers entwining.  
  
I grin at her. "You were talking in your sleep again."  
  
She chuckles and blushes slightly. "Oh no! What did I say this time? Nothing about frosting any pies, I hope."  
  
I shake my head, my eyes focused on hers. I reply softly, "All you said was 'finally'." Sydney raises her eyebrows in surprise, but I continue, my gaze growing more intense and my voice lowering. "I couldn't agree more."  
  
She smiles and inches closer to me, placing her lips on mine for a soft kiss. Neither of us seems to care about morning breath.  
  
She slowly pulls away and then presses her body up against the side of mine, laying her head on my chest and draping her arm across my waist.  
  
God, I love her. I love her so much I wish we could stay like this forever.  
  
I bring my hand up and begin to stroke her silky hair.  
  
My voice emerges more softly than I intended, "Last night was..."  
  
"...amazing," she finishes for me, breathlessly.  
  
I smile. Took the word right out of my mouth.  
  
I swallow hard, needing to say more. "I dreamt about last night for a long time, Sydney. I think a part of me believed that it might never happen. And now that it finally has...The fantasy can't even compare to the reality."  
  
The arm draped across my waist, extends and finds my hand. She links her fingers with mine and squeezes.  
  
"I know what you mean," she replies quietly.  
  
I remove my hand from her hair and begin to stroke the soft skin of her back. "It's just that we waited so long and all I ever wanted...every time I saw you...was to kiss you. I just wanted to be able to hold you and look at you whenever I wanted." I pause and then smile, "And now I can. It's almost too good to be true."  
  
She lifts her head to meet my eyes. "Every time I open my eyes I expect to find that everything's back to the way it used to be. I expect to find SD-6 going strong...and you still so far away from me." She smiles, "I think it's going to take a while for us to get used to this being real."  
  
She places her head back down on my chest.  
  
I shake my head and sigh in disbelief. "Can you believe that we can actually go out to dinner without fear of being discovered? That we can do all of those normal things that other couples take for granted?"  
  
She turns her head, so that her chin is resting on my chest and lifts her eyes up to me. They are sparkling seductively now. She lowers her lips to my chest and places a kiss. Then she looks back up to me with a smile, "Things like that?"  
  
I murmur something unintelligible, as she begins to leave a trail of kisses up my chest. I close my eyes, the feeling that she stirs within me almost too much to bear. Her trail leads up my neck and close to my ear, as she whispers, "Or things like this?"  
  
I place my hands on her face and guide it towards my lips, kissing her slowly...Trying to breathe her in.  
  
It doesn't take long for the events of last night to repeat themselves. It's amazing again, of course. God, I could get use to this for the rest of my life.  
  
In fact, I think I'm already addicted to it...to her. I could never live without it...without her.  
  
Now that I've had a taste...  
  
It's incredible how you can go through your entire life not realizing that you've been missing something so wonderful, so fulfilling. It's not until you have it, that you realize that it was always missing...It's not until that hole is filled, that you even realize it existed.  
  
She rolls off of me and resumes the position she held when I awoke this morning. She smiles at me and for a moment we just lie there in silence. A comfortable silence. This is how it was always meant to be.  
  
After some time, I notice her expression grow serious.  
  
"What?" I ask, slightly concerned.  
  
"I finally have my life back," she replies with a mixture of excitement, sadness, confusion and anticipation.  
  
I smile. "I know. SD-6 doesn't control your life anymore, Syd."  
  
She removes her eyes from mine. "SD-6 isn't the only one who controlled my life, Vaughn. The CIA did, too. To some extent, they still do."  
  
I nod, sensing where she's going with this. "You always said that once you took down SD-6, you wanted out of the CIA."  
  
She bobs her head, but still won't meet my eyes, "I am thinking of leaving."  
  
I touch her face, forcing her to lift her eyes. "I understand why you want to leave, Syd. I know that you want to see what else is out there for you. I also know that I've never met a better, more dedicated agent than you. This is all you've known since you were a freshman in college and I know that there's a part of you that loves it...That lives for that excitement. I just want to make sure that whatever you decide, you're certain. I don't want you to regret it later." I pause and smile, "Believe me, I would like nothing more than to know that you're safe...To finally be able to sleep at night because I know that you're okay. But I'm not the one making your decisions."  
  
She looks me in the eye and speaks softly, "We're together now, Vaughn, and I am in this for the long-run. That means that decisions affect both of us. You're opinion matters very much to me."  
  
I swallow hard. "If I had my way, I would have taken you away from this life long ago."  
  
She smiles slightly, "I know what I have to do. It's time."  
  
She moves closer to me then, so close her breath tickles my lips. "And you'll never again lose sleep worrying about me because I'll be lying by your side." She pauses and then grins alluringly, "Although I can't promise that you won't be losing sleep for other reasons."  
  
I smile, before her lips meet mine and we once again melt into each other.  
  
* * * *  
  
Later that morning, I walk into work whistling.  
  
Yes. Me. Whistling. I know.  
  
I walk by Weiss, greet him with a 'good morning' and then continue on my way. I notice Weiss's double-take as I walk by, but choose to ignore it.  
  
It doesn't take long for him to grab my arm and pull me into a vacant room. He stands in front of me with his hands on his hips and his eyebrows raised, "So, you're whistling now?"  
  
I crease my brow, feigning confusion. "What? No."  
  
He nods insistently. "Yes. As you walked by before, I distinctly heard a noise that resembles whistling coming from your lips. I believe it was the Oklahoma classic 'Oh, What a Beautiful Morning' that you were entertaining us with."  
  
I shake my head. "You're being ridiculous."  
  
"No, I'm not. You were whistling. I've known you for how long now and I've never heard you whistle before. Not even a hum."  
  
I shrug in defeat. "So, maybe I was whistling. It's a nice day out. I'm in a good mood. What's the big deal?"  
  
"No big deal, it's just that you're not Mr. Rogers and this isn't a neighborhood. Now, if you start wearing cardigan sweaters and talking to puppets, I'm going to have to notify Barnett."  
  
I roll my eyes at him. "You're very dramatic, you know that?"  
  
He shakes his head. "No, something's not right with you. Something's different. Something's changed. Som-..." He stops abruptly, looks at me for a long moment, before his eyes brighten and he grins. "Oh my God. You got lucky last night! You and Sydney made a little SpyWhoopie!"  
  
I try suppress a smile and shake my head. "You're so wrong."  
  
He shakes his head defiantly and smiles, "No, no, I'm right. That's what's different about you. You're happy."  
  
I shrug and sigh, finally allowing myself a smile. "I can't argue you with you there."  
  
He nods his head proudly. "I knew it. Wow. I mean, after I saw you two swallowing each other's heads amidst SD-6 rubble, I knew this wouldn't be far behind. Seriously, I could have danced naked in front of you while singing 'Like a Virgin' and you two would have been oblivious. I just didn't think that it would produce such a visible change in you."  
  
I think Weiss keeps talking, but I don't hear him. Instead, my eyes focus on Sydney, who's just arrived at work. She had some errands to do, so we came separately. My gaze follows her every movement, as she walks from desk to desk, gathering files.  
  
Weiss notices my preoccupation and bends his upper body to block my view. He waves a hand in front of me. "Hello? Are you listening to me?"  
  
He finally turns around and follows my gaze. He sighs. "Oh, of course, she's here."  
  
I grin and pat him on the arm, replying jokingly, "Oh, don't worry, Weiss. My feelings for Sydney could never interfere with my feelings for you. I'll always love you no matter what. Nothing could ever change that."  
  
He swats my hand away, "Very funny."  
  
I laugh and then follow him outside. He walks to Sydney. "Morning, Sydney."  
  
She smiles at him, "Good morning." Then her eyes land on me and her smile widens, eyes twinkling, "Good morning, Vaughn."  
  
Weiss scoffs and wiggles his eyebrows. "Yeah. Right."  
  
Sydney's eyes widen, as Weiss walks by her laughing.  
  
She turns towards me, eyebrows raised. She then grabs my arm and heads into a vacant room. Actually, we end up in our 'flirting corner'.  
  
She then hits my arm lightly, as she tries to suppress a smile.  
  
"You told him?!"  
  
I grin and shake my head, holding my hands up in defense, "I didn't say a thing."  
  
She eyes me suspiciously. "Well, how did he know then?"  
  
"He guessed."  
  
She folds her arms across her chest. "He guessed? How?"  
  
A slight blush creeps into my face, but I can't stop my grin. "Well, I was kind of...uh...whistling when I came into work this morning."  
  
She has to bite her lip to keep from laughing. "You were whistling." She pauses, her laughter subsiding, and takes a step closer to me. She whispers, "Well, after last night, I knew those lips of yours could work some magic...I just didn't know it included whistling."  
  
I smile and have to take a deep breath to keep myself from kissing her.  
  
Not here. Not CIA headquarters. Not even in the flirting corner.  
  
I lick my lips and speak softly, my eyes piercing hers, "He said there was different about me, something had changed. He said I was happy." I pause and swallow hard, "I think it's the first time I've ever been truly happy, Syd."  
  
A gentle smile pulls at her lips, before she replies, "Me too."  
  
We stand there for a few long moments, the desire between us growing steadily.  
  
I finally shake my head, inhaling deeply, "Well, I think we better get to work. And I guess you have something to tell Kendall."  
  
She nods and turns around to look out the glass, before giving me a quick peck on the lips.  
  
She takes a deep breath and smiles, "This is it...a new beginning."  
  
I smile reassuringly and take her hand in mine. "A new beginning for us."  
  
She bobs her head, offers me one last smile and then turns on her heel to leave.  
  
I watch her figure until it disappears from view.  
  
There goes the most amazing thing to ever happen to me.  
  
Oh, what a beautiful morning it is, indeed.  
  
***********************************THE END********************************** Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it and please let me know what you thought! :) ~Steph 


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